


Hair dye fiasco

by plikki



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Knows, But it's pretty ridiculous, F/M, I don't know if this is considered crack, bad choices, partial reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25649437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plikki/pseuds/plikki
Summary: Adrien believes he has it all figured out. But he's not prepared for the consequences from his actions.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 47
Kudos: 162





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's me again! Two updates in a day? I know, it's unheard of. But InkyCoffee gave me this idea a few weeks ago and it had to wait until July was over. Now I finally managed to get it started but I decided it would work better in two parts, since it will be longer than expected too. It's meant to be quite funny, but I have a feeling some serious matters will be discussed too. You'll be the judge of it.

It couldn’t be that bad right, Adrien tried to reassure himself. It was just dye, he hadn’t cut off his hair or worse, shaved it off, after all. But Plagg’s knowing look was following him around and making him really nervous.

When he looked into the mirror, he knew why. There was no nice way to say this, but blue definitely wasn’t his colour. It was too bright, it clashed terribly with his eyes and it gave him a deathlike pallor. Right now, though, this wasn’t his biggest problem.

In spite of being up at dawn to execute his plan, he must have miscalculated something because he was about to be late for school. No time to do damage control, let alone reverse it altogether. 

This was why Ladybug had little patience for him sometimes. He hadn’t thought things through, he hadn’t considered all outcomes and he was at a dead end. He couldn’t miss school because his father would go ballistic but his father would go ballistic if he saw his hair disaster too. Impasse. His lady would never get into such a situation, he was sure.

Then again, he had done this for her. It was stupid and desperate but he was both of these things when it came to her. Stupidly in love and desperate to make her notice him. After he’d found out that his partner was none other than Marinette, he’d felt elated. For about one minute. Until he’d put two and two together and come up with the worst possible result - Luka. This was the mysterious guy she was in love with. There was no other possibility. He’d seen them together, he knew they got along well and obviously liked each other. 

That’s when he’d felt absolute despair. There was no way for him to compete with the older guy. Luka was so casually cool, collected, kind. He somehow knew how to make Marinette feel calm and relaxed around him, something that Adrien didn’t seem to be able to master no matter how hard he tried. Luka was always playing his guitar, enchanting Marinette with sweet melodies. Adrien loved playing the piano and had been told he was good at it, but he’d never considered it cool and never tried to impress anyone with it ( and just imagine how difficult it would be to carry a piano with him and play it at any given moment). 

All this didn’t leave him with much. He remembered Plagg’s amusement at his troubles. 

“You’re a model, Adrien. Most girls would fall at your feet at the drop of a hat and you’re concerned about some nobody being more than you?” 

Trust his kwami to understand nothing about human nature. Luka might not be a famous model but he didn’t need to be, apparently. What good was it to Adrien if thousands of girls across Paris drooled over his image if his lady wasn’t impressed by this at all? She was the only one whose opinion he valued and she was totally immune to his charm. 

That was when he had the genius (or ludicrous if Adrien chose to listen to Plagg which he didn’t do) idea to make himself look more like Luka. It was worth a try after all. The easiest way to achieve that was to change his hair colour. He’d think about getting blue contacts later. 

That’s how he’d gotten in this situation - with blue hair and having to face his father’s wrath. Just when he was sure that his life was over, that he’d be grounded for life, he spotted the beret Ladybug had given him. Marinette had made it for him, he realised! He could use it to hide his disastrous choice and maybe get in her good graces for wearing it too.

He snatched it from its resting place and ran out the door. Thankfully he didn’t meet anyone on his way out, limiting the damage for now. As for his bodyguard, he believed he could trust him not to rat him out to his father. He did do a double take when he spotted the blue hair sticking out under the beret, but didn’t comment on it. 

Once he was safe at school, he tried to get to his classroom as quickly as possible to avoid anyone else taking notice of him. He got there without accidents only to be surrounded by his curious classmates. 

“Dude, what’s with the new hair colour?” Nino said, trying to use some tact and not call it ugly to his face. Bless him. Alya was eyeing him suspiciously and it was no wonder. As Marinette’s closest friend she was bound to notice this smelled fishy. As for Juleka, he didn’t dare meet her eyes for fear of seeing the judgement in them. The only thing he was lucky about was that Chloe hadn’t seen him yet.

That’s when he felt someone bump into him from behind. He turned around startled to come face to face with the very girl he had hoped to avoid. It was clear that his choice of new hair colour was a disaster but now he had no other option but to brazen it out.

“Marinette, are you ok?” he asked as she bent down to get the school bag she’d dropped.

“I’m fine, I’m sorry for bumping into you… Adrien?” She said once she looked up at him. Her eyes widened and she looked shocked, understandably. 

“It’s no problem.”

“N-nice beret,” she muttered, staring transfixed at him. Oh, he’d totally forgotten that.

“Yes, it’s my favourite one. It reminds me of a special person,” he said, unconsciously taking the beret in his hands and starting to twist it around. That’s when Marinette gasped.

“Your hair!” She said, a hand to her mouth. 

“Um, yes. I’m trying out a new look. What do you think?” he said, smiling despite his embarrassment. She cocked her head to one side, looking curiously at him.

“Is blue really the right choice?” she said, obviously trying to be polite. 

“I thought you like blue hair,” he mumbled, feeling his cheeks warm up. 

“Why would you think so?” She asked, confusion written all over her face, but before he could ask follow-up questions, their teacher arrived.

He was saved from further embarrassment or at least he thought so until the akuma alert sounded and he uttered a word he’d never allow himself to say in the presence of a lady.  Of course he’d have to transform and jeopardise his identity. This was his bad luck through and through. 

“You know what’s going to happen, right?” Plagg asked when he found a place to transform. 

“I know but I have no choice,” he said tersely. 

Of course he knew there was no going back, he thought as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, trying to avoid being spotted. He had not only made a fool of himself in front of Marinette, he’d also reveal his identity in the process. He was sure she’d take one look at him and realise who he was. She was the smart one after all. 

But he couldn’t leave her to deal with the akuma on her own, right? A few precious minutes for him to go back home and wash the colour off could prove to be too much. He couldn’t let anything happen to her while she faced the akuma on her own, waiting for him to show up and worrying why it took him so long. So he called her. 

“Chat, I’ll be with you in a second,” she said. Of course, she was nearby and would find him easily with his tracker.

When she arrived, she didn’t look at him at first, instead searching for the akuma in the distance. When she bumped into him, he couldn’t resist saying what came to his mind.

“We should stop meeting like that.” 

She looked at him confused only for her eyes to widen and for her mouth to drop open in shock. Again.

“I take it the colour hasn’t magically disappeared with the transformation,” he said, rubbing his neck nervously. 

“What were you thinking, colouring your hair blue? Of course it wouldn’t disappear. What if people see you?” she said, snapping out of her initial shock. 

“I thought you like blue hair,” he said, echoing his earlier words. 

“Why is everyone saying this today?” She muttered but then did a double take. That was when it finally clicked in her mind. He saw it happen. He’d expected it after all. He was even a little surprised she hadn’t figured it out immediately.

“It can’t be,” she whispered. 

“I’m sorry, Marinette,” he said quickly. “I know you weren’t supposed to know. And I wasn’t supposed to know too,” he added, wincing, at the betrayed look on her face.

“You’ll have a lot of explaining to do,” she said, shaking her head as if trying to clear her mind. 

“Of course. After we take care of this little problem?” He said, pointing to his hair. 

“And we capture the akuma,” she reminded him. Of course. She was all business. “Let me tell you though that blue is definitely not your colour,” she added, failing to keep the smile off her face.

“I already know that,” he said, trying not to sound offended. It was the smile that did it. He knew he wasn’t in too much trouble if she was smiling. 

“Please tell me you weren’t stupid enough to use permament dye,” she said, a plead in her eyes. 

“M’lady!” He said, indignant. “How could you even think such a thing!”

“I wouldn’t put it past you,” she said, giggling. “It’s good to know you got something right.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“Now, are you ready for a bath?” She asked with a wicked grin that made his heart miss a beat. She obviously had a plan and the look on her face didn’t bode well for him. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When they talk things through they find that the easy choice isn't necessarily the right one anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was snickering while writing this and then feeling really emotional. What's new anyway, haha. It was meant to be this light and funny story, but it got a bit deeper than that. Well, enjoy!

Adrien shouldn’t have been surprised that it would take more than one try to get the dye out of his hair. After the start of the day he’d had, it was only logical that he’d have to get dunk into the Seine at least a couple of times. 

After the first time, when he had been more than right to be sceptical of his lady’s plan, she’d taken one look at him and sent him back in while she scouted the area. 

When he came out again after a while, she was there, waiting for him. Not surprisingly, she burst out laughing when he hauled himself out of the water. 

He was sure he was quite a sight, with hair plastered to his face and dripping all over the place. 

“I’m glad you’re enjoying the show,” he grumbled.

“Come on, it’s your own fault you’re in this situation,” she said teasingly. “Also it’s better to see you like this, it helps me not to freak out about the fact that you’re Adrien.” He chose to ignore that comment, for now, and focus on more pressing matters.

“How does it look?” He asked, hopeful. He didn’t want another swim, not for another lifetime.

“Hm,” she said, eyeing him carefully. “Better. It’s no longer bright blue, now it has more of a green tinge to it, but closer to blond, for sure. I think we should risk it. Maybe it will be even better when dried out.”

“I’m up for it. How’s the akuma?” He asked as he shook off the water from him like a dog, making her squeal as drops showered over her.

“Annoying. He’s obviously having fun with his powers and I still have no idea what they are since he’s pretty elusive.”

“Let’s go get him.” 

They found the akuma terrorising some bystanders but he quickly made to run from them. Until he caught sight of Adrien’s wet hair.

“You’re a little wet, Chat Noir,” he drawled.

“Believe it or not it’s an improvement from my earlier look,” Adrien responded. He shared a look with Marinette, both of them trying not to laugh.

“All the better for me to give you a haircut,” the akuma said, cackling and brandishing a pair of scissors out of nowhere. 

“He’s a hairdresser?” Adrien said, feeling torn between wanting to laugh and to groan. This was his luck all over again.

“I’m a stylist!” The akuma screeched and this time whipped out a hair dryer that sent a blast of hot air in their direction. 

“At least this will help to dry my hair faster,” Adrien mumbled as he got up from where he’d fallen on the ground.

“It’s your loss. Catch me if you can,” the akuma said and ran away. Great. 

“Ready, m’lady?” Marinette was looking at him, a little dazed, but then startled when he addressed her. 

She took a step forward but stumbled and fell into his arms.

“Are you ok?” He said, helping her to straighten up.

“I’m sorry. I got distracted. I-this shouldn’t be so hard,” she said, looking away.

“I’m still me,” he said quietly. His heart lurched, his biggest fear coming to life. She was disappointed it was him. But when she looked up at him, she was smiling.

“I know.” The softness in her eyes surprised him. 

“Try not to get blown away by my beauty again then,” he said with a wink, resorting to jokes to ease the tension, as usual. She snorted then really laughed.

“That.. That was terrible,” she wheezed, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

“But it made you laugh,” he said, more than happy. 

“You’re you, alright,” she said, fondness in her voice. “Let’s get this over with,” she added with determination.

*

After all, defeating the akuma hadn’t been that hard. Once they’d cornered him and Adrien distracted him with hair talk, Marinette got the hair clip where the akuma was hiding. Once it was cleansed, the poor man had been so sorry for going on a rampage for not being chosen as the best stylist in Paris, that he offered them free hair cuts. 

They’d been just about to refuse politely and walk away when Ladybug said,

“Wait. Do you by any chance have anything that will help us get his hair back to its original blond,” she asked in a conspiratorial whisper. “He had a little accident earlier.”

The man, who was probably used to dealing with all kinds of hair disasters and in a discrete manner too, nodded enthusiastically. 

“I think I have just the thing for you!”

*

There they were, a couple of hours later, Adrien’s once again blond hair glinting in the sun. True to his word, the man had done his magic. 

“Your good luck really helped us or your quick wit, actually” he told Marinette as their kwamis ate their snacks, again. This had taken a toll on them too.

“All’s well that ends well,” she said philosophically and shrugged. But then her eyes focused on his hair again and a crease appeared between her eyebrows.

“Now. Will you tell me what all this was about?” She said slowly. It was time for their talk. It was only fair after everything he’d put her through.

“Well, I did some thinking. After I realised who you are,” he added. At her guilty expression he realised he had something else to explain first.

“You did nothing wrong, Marinette. I paid too much attention to you and it became obvious the more I looked. Against Plagg’s advice,” he admitted. It was true. He hadn’t planned it, it had just happened. She blushed a little for some reason when she heard about his fixation on her.

“So, you did some thinking,” she said after a minute, to get the conversation back on track. 

“About the guy that you like, yes.” He saw her pale at his words, the earlier colour disappearing quickly. Yes, he was definitely looking too closely at her.

“And?” She prompted.

“And I realised there was only one option. Luka.”

“Luka,” she repeated, her expression giving nothing away this time.

“Of course. You look so comfortable with him. And you’ve gotten closer,” he said, trying to hide the bitterness in his voice.

“I could say the same thing about you and Kagami,” she countered, making him jump a little. “I’m actually surprised you still care about the guy that I like.” Things were so much more complicated, with more to explain when their lives turned out to be so entangled.

“Well, I do,” he said firmly. “Although I obviously don’t stand a chance against him. Look what a stupid thing I did, thinking you would like me more if I looked like him,” he said, feeling ashamed all over again.

“Wait,” she exclaimed, making him look at her. “You dyed your hair because you thought I like Luka and would like you more if you looked like him?” 

“Wasn’t this obvious?”

She blinked a few times before bursting into laughter.

“You’re Adrien, alright,” she said once she calmed down a little.

“Huh?” 

“I’ve always been amazed by how little you care about your looks. How humble you seem to be. Of course, when you’re Chat that’s very different. Oh God. I should have realised it sooner,” she said suddenly, agitated. “I was looking at the wrong place and reading the wrong signs.” 

“I don’t understand,” he said, because he really had no idea what she meant.

“You acted more like I would expect a model to act as Chat. You know, the cocky attitude, all the comments that I won’t be able to resist you.” He felt like blushing when she put it like that. “I never made the connection,” she concluded, shaking her head with a smile.

“What does this have to do with Luka?” he asked, because she’d really lost him there.

“You thought you weren’t good-looking enough?” She asked.    
“Not that. More like that I was obviously not your type.”

“So you decided to dye your hair and thought it would be enough?” She was obviously trying not to laugh again.   
“I know it’s stupid.” 

“It’s still very much you.”

“I’m sorry. It’s not going to happen again. This was too close to becoming a disaster. I give up. Your feelings for me are obviously not going to change. So it’s time for me to do the noble thing and give up. You deserve to be happy, if it’s going to be with him, so be it,” he said. He could feel his heart breaking all over again, which was stupid since he’d always known that this was the case, but he couldn’t help it. He turned around, preferring to walk away and not let her see him like that. She didn’t deserve to feel guilty again. 

“Chat,” she called after him. “Um, Adrien,” she said when he looked over his shoulder. “I don’t like Luka. Not like that anyway.”

He looked speechless at her, rooted to his spot. She smiled an embarrassed smile.

“I admit I was tempted a little. He’s a great guy and we get along fine. He is pretty similar to me. Unlike you. There were times when I felt like we lived in different worlds, you know,” she smiled ruefully. 

He looked down, feeling dejected. He knew what she meant.

“As for Chat. I was stubborn. I didn’t want to give in to the whole “we’re made for each other, it’s inevitable” thing. I know it’s stupid. I wanted it to be up to me who I fall for, although I don’t think this was ever possible.”

Was this another way of her letting him down gently? Even if she didn’t like Luka.

“What about Kagami?” She surprised him by asking. It was his turn to smile sadly.

“Do you know what’s funny? What you said about you and Luka being similar. That’s how I felt about her. That it would be so easy to be with her. Our parents would approve, we move in the same circles, we have similar interests. But then I realised that’s a good reason for us to be friends, the way we already are. But not necessarily for something more. I couldn’t make myself feel the same way about her that I felt about you. It didn’t work.”

He looked down, fighting the tears that stung his eyes. It was true, he’d tried so hard. But nothing worked, he still couldn’t stop loving her. And now…

A gentle hand on his cheek startled him. He blinked back the tears to focus on her face. The tenderness he saw there made his heart ache anew. He was so not ready to let her go.

“It’s a good thing then that I realised that my type is, well, how should I say it, not blue haired at all? More like golden locks, the wilder the mane, the better,” she said, chuckling to herself, while he still struggled to catch up. “And green eyes. Don’t tell me you were thinking about changing that too?” He chose to pretend he hadn’t heard that. She continued anyway. “And a penchant for puns and terrible, terrible jokes as a whole. I’ll somehow have to live with that, won’t I?” It felt like she was talking to herself at this point.

His mind was reeling. There was no way she meant him, right? But what were the chances of there being anyone else to fit that description? 

“See, I wanted it to be up to me and it wasn’t,” she said, her eyes on his.”No one asked me if I wanted to fall for the kind boy with the umbrella. Or for my annoying but sweet partner. But when I got an alternative, I did what I felt in my heart was the right thing. I chose you.”

His heart started beating faster. It couldn’t be.

“You mean…?” He said, but he didn’t know how to finish.

“Yes, kitty, it was always you. Maybe things are not meant to be easy or the right choice isn’t always the obvious one. It’s down to our hearts at the end, right?” She was cupping his face in both her hands now and somehow moving closer. 

“I like you for being you, you don’t need to change,” she whispered before kissing him and wiping away the last remnants of his sanity with the gentle touch of her lips. He was no longer capable of thinking. He didn’t want to think. His arms wound around her and brought her closer. He was in heaven and nothing else mattered. 

*

“Adrien, it’s good to see you’re back to your natural colour.” That was what Alya greeted him with in the morning. She gave him a knowing look, although he was pretty sure she wasn’t in on the secret.

“Really, dude, what happened yesterday?” Nino piped in.

“Well, after I had to get home because of that surprise akuma attack, my father didn’t really approve of my new choice of hair colour. At least it wasn’t permanent dye, I wasn’t that stupid,” he said, shooting Marinette, who was trying not to giggle, a look. “So, here I am, back to my roots,” he added, grinning. This time she was trying to hide her groan.

“It’s a good thing anyway, since I found out my girl over here has a thing for blondes,” he said, pulling Marinette into a surprise hug. 

It was a miracle that he could hear her over the squeals and shouts coming from their classmates at their little display, but he did.

“I’m going to kill you,” she hissed against his collarbone, but there was laughter in her voice. Yes, this wasn’t how they’d planned to tell the others, but it was as good a time as any.

“I know you love me,” he all but sang, “bugaboo,” he added for her ears only. “And I love you too,” he whispered before kissing her, the cries around them reaching fever pitch. But they didn’t notice. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got thinking about how we have to hand it to the Miraculous team, they really managed to write Marinette and Adrien's alternate love interest very cleverly. You know how Marinette and Adrien are more like "opposites attract", yin and yang after all. Meanwhile, there are Luka and Kagami who are presented as very similar to the one they are intended for. This puts our heroes in a nearly impossible situation, because of course it makes sense for them to go for the easy choice. I'm not saying it's bad per se, it's just that easy is not always right. After all, their hearts are telling them something different and that's all that matters. So I decided to incorporate this in this story. I hope it worked as intended in explaining my stance on the love hexagon.

**Author's Note:**

> As someone who has never dyed their hair in their life, I sure hope this is accurate. 😄


End file.
